There were at least three kinds of
heath (I have got them in my handkerchief here), and gorse, and
broom, and bell-flower, and many others of all colors, that I will
beg you presently to tell me the names of.
_Mr. A_. That I will readily.
_W_. I saw, too, several birds that were new to me. There was
a pretty grayish one, of the size of a lark, that was hopping about
some great stones; and when he flew he showed a great deal of white
above his tail.
_Mr. A_. That was a wheat-ear. They are reckoned very delicious
birds to eat, and frequent the open downs in Sussex, and some other
counties, in great numbers.
_W_. There was a flock of lapwings upon a marshy part of the
heath, that amused me much. As I came near them, some of them
kept flying round and round just over my head, and crying "pewit"
so distinctly one might almost fancy they spoke. I thought I should
have caught one of them, for he flew as if one of his wings was
broken, and often tumbled close to the ground; but, as I came near,
he always made a shift to get away.
_Mr. A_. Ha, ha! you were finely taken in, then! This was all an
artifice of the bird's to entice you away from its nest; for they
build upon the bare ground, and their nests would easily be observed,
did they not draw off the attention of intruders by their loud
cries and counterfeit lameness.
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